Cameras having vidicon tubes have been and remain in use in a wide range of applications. An example of a military application is the use of such cameras in guided bombs. It has been found that after a period of service many of these cameras develop damage to their photosensitive plates or targets which shows up as a blind or dark spot on a displayed image from the vidicon tube. When used in the guidance of a bomb, the seeker detection and guidance electronics of the bomb sees the damaged areas of the photosensitive target as potential bomb targets, thereby rendering the video guided bomb inoperable. Of course, one solution is to replace the defective vidicon camera, but such replacement is expensive and in many cases a replacement vidicon camera is not available.
The present disclosure solves these problems by providing a method and apparatus for repairing a vidicon camera where its photosensitive target has become damaged as indicated by contrasting spots on a video display generated from the damaged vidicon camera.